Tin opener



Ami? 15', 1924. 1,490,154-

G. E. WILSON ET AL TIN" OPENER Filed Dec. 4; 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m mw r06 650 665 l 144460 Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

I rrso STATES- 1,490,154 PATENT ()FFICE.

enonen nnnnsr wrnson, or TYNEMOUTH, AND aosnrrr nn-wm TUL-IP, or MONK- SEATON, ENGLAND.

TIN OPENER.

Application filed December 4, 1920. Serial No. 428,339.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'we, GEORGE ERNEST VVILsoN and JOSEPH EDWIN Tunnyboth subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residents, respectively, of Tynemouth and Monkseaton, county of Northurnberl and, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tin Openers, of which-the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved tin opener and provides an instrument which is of simple and cheap construction, easy and safe to manipulate, with a powerful and rapid cutting action, and which is adaptable to beaded tins of all sizes, and can be readily packed with them.

The instrument is of the type which is in one piece stamped out of sheet metal with the cutter blade bent from the handle, but our invention differs from previous tin openers of the said type in providing a projection which serves as a rolling fulcrum for the leverage exerted by the thumb and fingers of the user, and by the particular angle at which the cutter blade is set from the handle, in giving greater freedom for manipulation without the users hand coming against the tin.

It has been previously proposed to use a tongue immediately under the cutting hook of a tin-opener to slip below the seam of a tin and serve as a pivot for pressing the hook edge through the cover of the tin, and the projection serving as a rolling fulcrum in our invention differs from such a pivot in that it has greater length and leverage extending as it does behind the cutting hook and thereby preserves nearly the same distance between the rolling contact of the said fulcrum and the point at which the cutting blade is being applied to the tin after the first out has been made.

The length of the projection in our invention may be varied according to Whether an instrument making a long or a short cut at each stroke is desired.

According to this invention, the instrument i conveniently made of a metal stamping which has at one end a cutter bladeiconsisting of a pointed hook having a cutting edge extending from the point of the hook to the junction with the handle part of the stamping, as shown, for example in Fi ure 1 of the accompanying drawings, Wllch illustrate one form of construction, and is a view of the back of the stamping in the first stage 'of manufacture. At the junction of the handle a with the hook I) there is shown gap 0 formed by a projection (Figure 3) being bent from the side of the handle where the cutting edge finishes and from the junction the hook is bent along the dotted line (Figure 1) which line is at an acute angle with the handle, into the form shown in Figure 2, which is a view of the back of the instrument-after the said bending has been done and which shows the gap 0. V

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the instrument seen from the front. The projection (Z is formed by stamping a portion of the handle a into a position at approximately right angles to the handle. The top surface of the projection may be fiat, but is preferably curved, and the side has a slight inward curve to enable the cutter to cling to the edge of the tin, under the bead.

Figure 4 shows another method of bending the projection (Z from the handle.

Figure 5 shows the tin opener in operation on the edge of a tin having a beaded edge under which the projection 03 fits and acts as a rolling fulcrum for the leverage exerted by th thumb and fingers of the user on the handle, a. The thumb is placed on that side of the handle which is opposite the hook and the fingers at the other side of the handle, and the action of pushing with the thumb and pulling with the fingers drives the point of the hook into the tin, cutting the metal and bringing the handle up to wards the top of the tin. The handle is then depressed and the projection d moved to an other position along the edge of the tin where it is in readiness for another out.

It is to be understood that the angle at which the hook b is bent from the handle a keeps the said handle obliquely away from the side of the tin and ensures freedom for the fingers in their grip of the handle during the cutting stroke, and that the curved projection (Z serves to keep the speed of the cutting stroke approximately constant by preserving nearly the same distance between the fulcrum and the point at which the cutting blade is applied to the tin, since vthe rolling fulcrum recedes as the blade advances through the metal after the first out has been made. It is also to be understood that this rolling fulcrum enables a longer cut to be made at each stroke than can be achieved by revious tin openers of the type referred to.

Figure 6 shows in "perspective a modified form of construction, the hook I) and projection (Z being placed at th lower end of the handle a and bent at approximately 90 degrees therefrom in opposite directions, which arrangement allows full advantage of the leverage and keeps the fingers and thumb of the operators hand above the tin. Figure 7 is a side view of Figure 6; and FigureS is a plan view of Figure 7. Figure 9 shows the modified tin opener cutting a tin. In this case the instrument is held upright, the: point of the hook being on the top of the tin against the inner side ofthe rim, and the projection d being held against the underside of the outer rim. The grip thus secured is maintained by endeavcuring to twist the instrument to the right. A forward and downward pressure of the instrument causes the point of the hook to pierce th top of the tin easily, and to cut the metal for the whole length of the blade, the projection (Z meanwhile rolling along the underside of the outer rim. At the end of the cut the instrument is brought towards the user and into the upright position, and the action is repeated as before all round the rim of the tin.

We claim 1- 1. A can opening tool including a body having a cutting blade offset from the body at right angles thereto, and a fulcruming foot spaced from the junction of the blade with the body to provide a clearance recess and offset from the body oppositely to the blade thereby to have a bearing engagement with the side of the can.

2. A can opening tool including a body having a cutting blade and a fulcruming foot offset from one edge thereof in opposite directions and at right angles to the plane of the body, the said fulcruming foot being curved to engage the rounded side of a can and spaced from the point of junction from the blade with the body to provide a recess.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands this tenth day of November GEORGE ERNEST WILSON. JOSEPH EDWIN TULIP. 

